4th of July

Ryan's band played a gig last night. It wasn't the usual scene. Usually, they play at festivals in the park or, more often, at bars. Last night, all he knew going in was that the gig was at a place called "China Blue." It's around 900 east and 200 south and it's a big house with an owner that organizes a 4th of July show every year. Ryan, Adam, MattO and I rolled up at 7:00. This house is old, blue painted brick, and has a lot of stuff laying around in the front yard. We walked around to the back and, with the four of us early-20's folk, lowered the average age by at least 15 years. This was the 20th anniversary of the the 4th of July China Blue party, and most of these people had been there since the beginning. The women had wrinkley skin and stained teeth from years of smoking, the men had salt and pepper hair, mostly long, tied back, and big beer bellies. I don't want to judge too much on appearances, but this crowd freaked me out. When I walked inside, I was met with another oddity. In the three story high house, with about 10 bedrooms, EVERY wall was completely covered in art. Matt and I went for a walk. That place was too much. As the night went on, I ventured out of my comfort zone and started talking to a few folks, and they were interesting people. I guess what I came away with was gratitude that I will never end up being 40 and continually coming back to the same house, to the same party, to the same aging people. But from talking to them, I also came away thinking that I probably judged them too quickly when I first arrived. There was a neat sense of community there, and a lot of the people there had cool stories to tell.
By the way, the boys rocked :-)